The 2010 Texas gubernatorial election will be held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010 to elect the Governor of Texas, who will serve a four-year term beginning on January 18, 2011.

In the Republican primary on March 2, two-term Governor Rick Perry faced Kay Bailey Hutchison, the current Senator from Texas, and Debra Medina, with Perry winning his party's nomination with 51 percent of the votes cast; thus avoiding a runoff.[1] On the same day, seven candidates sought the Democratic nomination; former Mayor of HoustonBill White won the party's primary in a landslide, capturing 76 percent of the vote.[1] Many third-party and independent candidates are seeking to appear on the ballot in November's general election.

The Lieutenant Governor of Texas is elected on a separate ticket. As a result, the Governor-elect and Lieutenant Governor-elect may be, and have in the past been, of different political parties. For that race, Linda Chavez-Thompson won the Democratic Party nomination and avoided a runoff; incumbent Republican Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst was unopposed in his re-election bid.

Election Rules

Texas does not have term limits for its governors; thus, a gubernatorial incumbent is free to run as often as s/he wishes provided s/he remains eligible for the office.

The Republicans and Democrats chose their gubernatorial nominees based on the results of primary votes held on March 2, 2010 (the first Tuesday in March[2]}. Both parties' candidates received at least 20 percent of the total votes cast for governor in the 2006 election; thus, they must nominate their candidates via primary election.[3]

Any third-party which obtains ballot access must nominate its candidates via a statewide convention, which by law must be held on June 12, 2010 (the second Saturday in June[4]). The Libertarian Party obtained ballot access automatically due to its 2008 showing, in which one of its nominees attracted over one million votes.

In the primary election the party's winning candidate must garner a majority (over 50%) of votes cast; otherwise, the top two candidates face each other in a runoff election. However, in the general election the winning candidate need only garner a plurality of votes to be elected Governor (as was the case with the 2006 election).

Ballot access

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Political party candidates

Any political party whose candidate for Governor, during the 2006 election, garnered at least 20 percent of the total votes cast, must nominate all its candidates for all offices sought via primary election.[3] In the 2006 election, both the Democratic candidate (Chris Bell) and the Republican candidate (Rick Perry) received this many votes; thus, both parties must hold primary elections using the two-round system. The primary elections must be held on the first Tuesday in March,[2] and a candidate must receive a majority of votes cast in the primary election;[5] otherwise, a runoff election between the top two finishers must be held[6] on the second Tuesday in April.[7]

A political party whose candidate for Governor, during the 2006 election, received at least two percent but less than 20 percent of the total votes cast, may nominate its candidates for all offices sought via either a primary election (using the two-round system) or a state convention. If the party chooses to conduct a primary election, it must notify the Texas Secretary of State at least one year prior to the general election date and must nominate all its candidates via primary election.[8] No third-party candidate met this requirement in 2006; the last to do so was the Libertarian Party in 1990 (when nominee Jeff Daiell polled over 3.3% of the vote).

All other political parties must nominate their candidates via state convention,[9] which by law must be held on the second Saturday in June.[4] In order to qualify for ballot access at the general election, the party must either:

have had at least one candidate, in the previous statewide election, garner at least five percent of the total votes cast for that office[10] (only the Libertarian Party met this requirement), or

within 75 days after conducting its precinct conventions, submit lists of said conventions, whose total participant count equals at least one percent of the total votes cast in the previous gubernatorial election.[11]

If the political party cannot meet the precinct convention count requirement, it may file a supplemental petition, the number of signatures on which, when added to the count from the precinct convention lists, totals the required one percent,[12] but must do so within the 75-day period above. Any person signing a supplemental petition must not have voted in any party's primary election or runoff election, or participated in any other third-party's convention.[13]

Independent candidates

Should an independent gubernatorial candidate seek ballot access in the state of Texas, the candidate must meet the following requirements:

The candidate must obtain signatures from registered voters, in an amount equalling at least one percent of the total votes cast in the prior gubernatorial election,[14] the same as for third-party access.

The signatures must come from registered voters who did not vote in either the Democratic or Republican primaries or in any runoff elections for Governor.[15]

The signatures must come from registered voters who have not signed a petition for any other independent candidate. If a supporter signed more than one petition, only the first signature counts.[16]

The signatures cannot be obtained until after the primary election (if either political party primary requires a runoff election, the signatures cannot be obtained until after such runoff election)[17] and the petition must be filed no later than 5:00 PM (Austin time, the filing must be with the Texas Secretary of State) on the 30th day after the scheduled runoff primary election day (even if none is held).[18]

Write-in candidates

In the event a candidate does not qualify for independent status, the person may still run as a write-in candidate. The candidate must either:[19]